Cross The Line
by Moonlight Silhouette
Summary: With the release of an album comes publicity, photo shoots ... and rivalry. With Jude Harrison and Tommy Quincy, the release of their albums also comes with the temptation of crossing the line between rivals and something more - something better.
1. I Hate Everything About You

**A.N - Okay, slightly nervous first time Instant Star writer here. Here's hoping you like it.**

**I shortened the age gap between Jude and Tommy - Jude being 16 and Tommy 20 - for the purpose of the story. I'm fully aware that in the show it's a good seven years between them (:**

**Everything else you need to know will be explained in the story. Tell me what you think?**

**Disclaimer: Instant Star is in no way mine. They all belong to the people behind production at The N who are kind enough to share it with us. I just play with situations in the hope of entertaining. xD**

* * *

_****__****_

ONE

_I hate everything about you  
__Why do I love you?  
__You hate everything about me  
__Why do you love me?  
__-- Three Days Grace_

"Sounding good, Jude!"

She smiled at the compliment her producer, Kwest, gave her, before sliding the headphones off her ears.

"Really?" She questioned. "I'm thinking that that second chorus should maybe go a little differently, kind of like –"

"Jude." Another, all too familiar, voice interrupted her. "Has anyone ever told you that you're entirely too bossy?"

Tom Quincy. Known to the world as Tommy Q. Known to Jude Harrison as 'pain-in-my-side'.

"You're supposed to work _with _the producer," he stressed. "Not tell them what to do."

"And has anyone ever told _you_," Jude countered. "That you're a pompous, annoying, stuck-up son-of-a-"

"That's enough Jude," Kwest cut in, amused. "It's Tommy's studio time now."

Rolling her eyes, Jude stood up and grabbed her guitar as she left the studio. The only problem was that she actually had to _pass _Tommy Q in order to leave.

And, of course, being the arrogant jerk he was, he refused to make room for her to pass.

"Excuse me."

Her voice was strained, pushing impatience.

Tommy, however, remained indifferent, posting a mock-shocked expression on his face.

"You mean," he gasped. "That you're not going to _demand_ I move?"

"Very funny, Quincy."

The two Instant Stars glared at each other for a long moment, before Kwest got bored and reminded Tommy that he was wasting his studio time.

He smiled and stood aside, bowing overdramatically before swatting Jude's behind as she walked past.

In spite of her fury, Jude could do nothing in retaliation for Tommy had already swaggered over to the microphone she had recently left and pulled the headphones over his ears.

He was the reason that Jude occasionally – and only for a little while – regretted entering the Instant Star competition in the first place.

Both Tommy and Jude made it into the finals where television history was made when the viewers' votes were split exactly. The votes for each were equal – it had been a tie.

The public had spoken – that first year, there were two instant stars.

Their rivalry had begun then, and was still going strong six months later.

"Jude!"

She smiled at the sound of the voice, pushed her thoughts away from the night that had changed her life and responded excitedly instead.

"Jamie!"

Jamie Andrews. Jude's best friend and manager – he was the only option for the job, really.

"Ah, I see you had another run in with Tommy Q."

He smiled sympathetically as Jude groaned.

"Whose bright idea was it for us to release our albums together?" She asked. "It's just a war waiting to happen."

Jude glanced behind her and fought the urge to swoon at the sight of Tommy – eyes shut as he poured himself into his song. No one could deny that Tommy Quincy was one of the hottest guys out there.

Jamie sighed upon catching Jude's wistful look.

"Jude …" he warned.

"I know, I know." Her gaze hardened. "No fraternising with the enemy."

"That's my girl."

Jude laughed as Jamie wrapped an arm around her shoulders and kissed her temple, before catching her in a headlock and messing up her hair.

* * *

Tommy opened his eyes as he finished recording his final song and glanced out of the transparent wall and into the lobby of G Major Records.

It irked him, having that Jamie guy hanging around all the time. It's not like he actually _did _anything here. He was a manager; he was supposed to be out of the building, finding _new_ acts. Not haunt the building and refuse to leave Jude Harrison's side for one millisecond.

"Um, Tommy?" Kwest's voice echoed through the studio. "When you've finished ogling your competition, we need to run through that again."

Sighing, Tommy returned his attention to his producer.

"I wasn't ogling her." Was all he said.

"Oh, so it's Andrews that caught your eye?"

"You're a real comedian."

It was easy to lose himself in a song. The music started playing in your ears and everything else was lost as you were consumed within the music … and the lyrics you were _meant _to be singing.

The music cut off.

"I'm sorry," Tommy apologised, eyes falling shut as he agitatedly pinched the bridge of his nose. "I have it now."

And he did. The tape was rewound before it began again and Tommy poured everything into his song. Even when he felt a pair of eyes watching him, instead of freezing, he snapped his eyes open and caught the gaze of one Jude Harrison.

He winked in the split second before she turned and returned her attention to her best friend and Tommy chuckled inwardly as he returned his full attention to the microphone in front of him.

"Nice one, T." Kwest praised. "That's a wrap."

"Finally," he grinned. "First album over with."

"Still editing to go through yet, Tommy."

He waved it off with a smile.

"Still, the bulk of it's done. This time next week I can hold the finished product in my hand."

Kwest laughed.

"You know, that's what Jude's looking forward to the most, too."

Tommy, for once, remained silent as his thoughts once again returned to the infuriating, immature, gorgeous girl that was Jude Harrison.

* * *

Despite the instant attraction, there were many reasons why Jude and Tommy couldn't actually be together. The first, and most serious, was the age gap - Jude was a young girl of sixteen whereas Tommy was twenty. The other was due to the discretion of their record label.

Apparently, records don't sell as well if the artists are unavailable – to both male and female audiences.

Jude found the whole thing ridiculous, to be perfectly honest.

Who was the record company to say whom she could and could not date? At least, in public.

So, she was shocked to say the least when Darius Mills walked up to her, one arm already firmly locked around Tommy's shoulders as his other came to wrap around her own.

"Jude!" He exclaimed. "Just the girl we wanted to see."

He led them into his office and gestured for them to take a seat.

"We've just had some news," Darius took his place behind the desk and looked at his two winners pointedly. "You two are hot news. Everyone wants you – interviews, cover shoots, the works."

Tommy and Jude exchanged wary looks.

"It's a fight for the number one album spot," he continued. "And anyone's guess to who is going to win."

"What does all this actually mean, D?" Jude's voice was hesitant and Tommy's twisted features echoed the feeling.

"It means," he grinned. "That you two are about to get a lot more press coverage. And G Major are going to get a lot more sales."

* * *

"Can you _believe_ him?" Jude whined after leaving Darius' office. "Now we have to battle it out for the number one spot?!"

"I think that that was actually the intention all along, princess." Tommy snidely responded.

Jude flipped her fiery hair over her shoulder and away from her face.

"Just so you know," she flippantly informed him. "My album is going to win."

Tommy scoffed. "Yeah, right."

"I'm serious." She took a step closer towards him – no one could see, they were practically the last ones left in the building. "Why, afraid of a little competition, little Tommy Q?"

His eyes narrowed minutely, glaring at her whilst taking the wide eyes, messy red hair and full, tempting lips which were just _begging_ to be kissed.

"Hardly." He snapped his eyes away from her lips and towards her own instead. "If anything, you seem to be the one who's pushing for this spot. I think you're the one who's scared."

"Hardly." She echoed, neither one even thinking about backing down.

They were stood nose-to-nose in the middle of the G Major lobby, staring each other down.

It didn't take a genius to realise that they weren't going to be caught, should they do anything and Tommy Quincy was nothing if not perceptive.

It took less than two seconds after Jude's last words before she found her lips smashed against those belonging to her music rival.

It took another split second for her to wrap her arms around his neck, and actually _enjoy_ it.


	2. Made Up Stories

**A.N - Haha. Adam Sandler on the Movie Awards. Sorry, watching it now. We're a day behind here in Great Britain.**

**Season Four starts tonight (for you guys). Anyone with a website I could use ... I'd appreciate it. (:**

**Hope you like this anyway. **

* * *

**Two**

_There you were and the floor was empty,  
You and him getting more than friendly.  
It was just a kiss,  
But I could see you meant it.  
- Go:Audio_

She pushed him away angrily.

"And just what the hell was that?" Jude demanded, trying not to let him see how much she'd liked it.

"I believe, Harrison," Tommy spoke cockily, moving back towards Jude to take her in his arms again. "That it's called a kiss."

"I know what a kiss is," she scoffed, turning her back to him and trying to figure out an escape route. Of which there were many, of course, they were in the lobby. It was just a matter of getting away before he figured out the plan.

Being trapped with Tom Quincy was never good. Particularly when all you wanted to do was _kiss_ him.

"Jude," Tommy sighed. "Is there something that repulsive about me, that you can't stand to kiss me?"

"Of course!"

Tommy chuckled.

"Fine, go." He relented, stepping aside and leaning against the wall. Jude wasted no time in making her escape. "I'll see you tomorrow."

She froze on her way out.

"Tomorrow?"

He rolled his eyes.

"Did you not listen to D, Jude?"

She shook her head silently, fearing the worst.

"Interviews, cover shoots." He winked. "First one's tomorrow."

Jude swore silently and shut her eyes.

"Sure," she ground out. "See you then."

* * *

She'd spent the night penning her frustrations into a song, as she always did whenever she needed to get something off her chest.

Jamie had glanced out of his window and noticed that Jude's light was on - which meant that she was upset. He climbed in through her window just as she was in the middle of writing the second verse. The screwed up pieces of paper littering the bedroom floor and falling out of the wastepaper basket indicated that the current song in her notepad was by no means the first attempt.

She sighed, put down her pen and leaned against her bed, resting her head on Jamie's legs.

"Who else?"

"Ah," he nodded, knowingly. "Little Tommy Q." Jude nodded. "What happened?"

"Darius Mills."

Jude elaborated, explaining to Jamie the whole story.

"And now," she finished, gesturing wildly as she got more and more into her story. "Tomorrow, I have to do a photo shoot with him. Preceding an interview."

Of course, she left out the fact that she and Tommy had engaged in a serious game of tonsil hockey.

"Well, you know what to do, don't you Jude?"

At her blank look, Jamie rolled his eyes and expanded his statement.

"Write a killer song, release it and kick Tommy's ass in the charts."

Jude laughed and jumped up on the bed with Jamie, mussing up his hair.

"Of course," she squeezed his arm lightly. "Why didn't I think of that?"

"Oh, easy mistake," he bragged. "You're the singer superstar, I'm the brains."

She rolled her eyes.

"Oh, of course, that must be it."

Their laughter lasted until the early hours of the morning when, finally, Jude fell asleep in her best friend's arms.

* * *

"Morning, Tommy."

He grunted in response and pushed his sunglasses further up his nose.

He couldn't sleep last night, kept awake with the thoughts of Jude's kiss – the way that her lips had swollen with the fury of his kiss and her hair, messy from his hands wandering through it.

This attraction was going to ruin his career. She was young – too young.

Tommy shook his head and collapsed in his hair and make-up chair.

"You have to take off those glasses, you know." Kwest told him.

His response was to lower the shades and let Kwest see the red eyes his sleepless night had caused.

"Woah," he backed away. "Maybe we can talk to someone about leaving them on – to go with your bad boy image."

"You think?"

Kwest nodded and left to talk to the artistic director of the shoot about the look he wanted to give.

"I can't believe I'm doing Tommy Quincy's hair."

He smirked at the attention the young make-up artist was giving him, but said nothing, head too wrapped up with thoughts of his opposition.

Tommy wished that she was here with him – he was desperate to see her.

As it was, the only chance he did get to see her was on the actual shoot.

She looked gorgeous. Her red hair had been stylishly mussed sexily whilst her eyes had been rimmed with black, creating a smoky effect. Her plump lips were painted red and looked more tempting then ever.

Her red guitar was slung across her body, barely grazing the end of her short skirt and her long tanned legs.

"So nice of you to finally join us," her voice commented sardonically.

"You know me," he held out his arms to his side and smirked when he caught her dragging her eyes away from his leather pant encased legs. "I like to make an entrance."

She rolled her eyes and turned her back on him, turning towards the young photographer who was focusing on Jude more than Tommy liked.

To make a point, Tommy walked up behind her and wrapped his arms around her shoulders, posing for the camera whilst simultaneously staking his claim.

"What are you doing?" Jude hissed through a pout.

"Posing."

Everybody loved it, of course. They thought it was a great way of showing their rivalry – by acting like they were a couple.

"Would you stop it, please?" Jude turned to face him and Tommy took the opportunity to pull her closer to him.

"Beautiful!"

The photographer's comments weren't helping her arguments for making him get his hands off of her.

"Play it up," he spoke softly in her ear. "After this, we have to go back to hating each other."

"Good."

Tommy laughed and only stepped away from Jude when the photographer called a wrap.

"What was all that about?"

Jude took the time when the crew around her were busy packing away their equipment to scold her rival.

"That sold copies," he told her matter-of-factly. "And Darius will be happy."

She stared at him incredulously.

"You're all for publicity, aren't you?"

He shrugged.

"Aren't you?"

She shook her head and barged past him.

"No," she called her parting words over her shoulder. "It may surprise you to learn that I'm actually about the music."

* * *

The door to her dressing room barged open angrily before slamming behind the intruder, who locked it.

"Hey!" She shouted. "Do you mind?"

Tommy said nothing, just stalked towards her silently and took her face in his hands before kissing her.

"We've got to stop doing this." She gasped, pulling her head away for air.

"Don't care," was his eloquent response.

"Mmm, me neither."

He separated from her lips and smiled at her dazzlingly.

"Good."

He caught her lips again in another kiss as her body was pushed against the door with Tommy pinning her there with his own.

This whole kissing thing was getting to be a regular occurrence.

But Jude sure wasn't complaining.


	3. Crawling in the Dark

**A.N - Thanks for all your reviews guys - I'm sorry I didn't reply. I was on this thing called Work Experience. It made me tired. And this was written instead of Science revision.**

**But, that new Season of Instant Star. Good, yes? xD**

* * *

_**THREE**_

_And I wish I could know if the directions that I take  
__And all the choices that I make  
__Won't end up all for nothing  
Show me what it's for  
Make me understand it  
I've been crawling in the dark looking for the answer  
__-- The Hoobastank_

With her headphones on and her guitar in her lap, Jude was oblivious to the goings on around her.

She was humming under her breath when her sister dumped a mail sack in front of her and Jude looked up with a start.

"What's this?"

She pushed the headphones from her ears and looked at the bag curiously.

"Fan mail." Sadie told her before rolling her eyes. "Don't know why they're sending it to you though. Especially since they could be sending it to Little Tommy Q."

"How much did he get?"

"A lot."

The sisters watched as Tommy was interrupted with his own sack and he glanced over at Jude quickly.

With a smirk on his face and his eyebrow raised, Tommy jerked his head in the direction of an unused studio as he held up the sack half-heartedly.

Smiling, Jude nodded and picked up her own bag as she put aside her guitar.

"What's that all about?" Sadie asked interestedly, darting her eyes from her little sister over to her hunky opposition.

Jude ignored her sister with a dismissive wave and walked purposefully over to the studio Tommy had gestured towards, the bag of letters slung over her back.

"After you, my lady." Tommy bowed gallantly, opening the studio door and letting Jude in ahead of him.

"My, my," she joked, fully aware of why Tommy had let her in first and began to shake her hips knowingly as she walked. "What a gentleman."

He pecked her lips.

"I aim to please."

Smiling, Jude ducked her head away from him as she sat on the recording deck opposite Tommy who'd taken the only chair in the small, cramped studio.

She pulled out a letter and opened it quickly, scanning what had been written with a smile on her face.

"Jude," Tommy interrupted. "Listen to this." He cleared his throat. "_Dear Little Tommy Q. I love you. So much. You so deserved to win Instant Star – not have to share it with Jude Harrison_." He paused. "You can feel the love, right?"

Jude laughed and rolled her eyes.

"I have them too." She poked her tongue out at him immaturely. "_Jude, You rock! Just wanted you to know that I voted for you. Tommy Quincy is just a boy band wannabe. Your music is real._"

Tommy rolled his eyes.

"Very funny," he muttered. "You've had your fun."

"Nuh-uh." She picked up another letter and opened it. "I have many more."

Tommy watched her as her eyes scanned the next letter, taking in her messy hair and ripped jeans as her red-coloured mouth opened in shock.

"I can't believe this!" Her voice told of her indignation. "Can you believe this?"

He regarded her amusedly.

"No," he took the letter from her hand and read it under her scrutinising gaze. "I can't. Though it is funny."

She glared at him and took the letter back.

"_Jude the Prude_?" She quoted. "I am so not a prude."

Tommy smiled but said nothing.

"_Girl, you need to get out and live a little – show some skin!_" She scoffed. "Did he not see that cover shoot."

At that reminder, Tommy's eyes glazed over, remember Jude's revealing outfit and their encounter afterwards in her dressing room. Needing the physical connection, Tommy pulled Jude off of the deck and into his lap, wrapping his arms around her waist as she raved about the letter she'd received.

"_If you ever decide to get down and dirty I'm available. Call me on –_"

She was cut off my Tommy's possessive lips falling on top of hers and his hands spanning the length of her back.

"I don't remember reading that part," he panted out, pulling apart for air as he took the letter from her once again and read it. He was livid. "That bastard actually gave you his number?!"

Jude shrugged helplessly.

"I'm sure you get phone numbers too."

He growled and dove in to attack Jude with more kisses.

"You…" he spoke around his fierce kisses to her lips. "Are… not … going to … call him."

Jude shook her head and pulled him back towards her to which Tommy responded in kind, his fingers biting into her skin in his attempt to ease his jealousy.

The door to the studio opened abruptly, leaving no chance for Tommy and Jude to decent themselves as Sadie looked at the pair with a raised eyebrow. Jude hastened to jump off her … boyfriend? Tommy responded by dropping his arms and sighing, his head falling back on the chair.

"Can we help you, Sadie?" He asked pointedly.

"Darius is looking for Jude." She informed them. "I figured you wouldn't have wanted him to come looking for you."

"Sure," Jude jumped up and glanced back at Tommy who shrugged. "I'll be there now."

"Whatever." Sadie rolled her eyes and shut the door behind her, leaving the couple alone.

"Go." Tommy urged, standing up and placing his hands lightly on her hips. "I'll see you afterwards."

She smiled and nodded, moving to leave the studio.

"Hey, Tommy?" Jude asked, pausing in the doorway. "What is this?"

She gestured lamely between the two of them.

"I don't know," he responded, a smile tugging at his lips. "But it works."

* * *

Walking slowly into Darius' office, Jude belatedly realised that there was another person in the room – a boy her age. It took another few moments to place him as Shay, the super popular rap artist who referred to Darius as 'Uncle D.'

"You wanted to see me?" She asked, standing in the doorway with her arms crossed over her chest.

"Have a seat."

She sat quietly next to Shay, who openly appraised her.

"We've decided to boost your image," Darius began. "Make you even more popular than you are already."

"Really?" Jude raised her eyebrow higher, suspicious. "And how do you propose we do that?"

She leaned back in her chair, arms crossed as she challenged Darius.

"You've met my nephew, Shay, right?"

Jude glanced at him and waved in greeting.

"'Sup, girl."

She fought the urge to roll her eyes at his typical rapper response.

"You two," Darius continued, coming around to sit on the edge of his desk as he clapped a hand on Shay's shoulder. "Just got serious."

* * *

Tommy sat, watching the door to Darius' office stoically, willing it to open.

When it finally did open and it revealed Jude with her hand clasped in that of Shay Mills, he jumped up angrily, ready to demand an explanation.

"Attention everyone," Darius called, following the couple out of his office. Tommy noticed that Jude wasn't meeting his eye. "Our very own Instant Star –" Tommy seethed at that. " –Jude Harrison has now officially hooked up with Shay."

Everyone present to hear the announcement clapped confusedly whilst Shay wrapped his arm around Jude's waist and kissed her cheek.

It was only then that Jude's wide eyes found Tommy's, showing her dislike for the situation.

And Tommy saw red.


	4. Everywhere But Here

**A.N - So I had fun with this chapter. Hope you like it as much as I do. (:**

* * *

**FOUR**

_You shoulda been kissing on me (kissing on me)  
Honey you don't know 'cause you won't listen  
You're gonna be missing me, dear (missing me, dear)  
When I'm everywhere but here_  
_-- Hope Partlow_

Standing in front of the full-length mirror two weeks later, Jude should have felt good. Her short black dress hugged her curves appropriately, the golden jewellery adorning her earlobes and draped around her neck added sparkle to the outfit. Her scarlet hair was pulled away from her face in a collection of curls, tendrils of which escaped their clip prison and curled affectionately against her cheek.

Tonight was her album launch party. Hers and Tommy's, at least.

Which, in and of itself, was what Jude was most looking forward to tonight – the opportunity to see Tommy for this first time in a fortnight.

Jude tugged at a flaming curl critically.

"Maybe I should go blonde," she muttered to herself, dropping the offending lock of hair and twisting in the mirror instead.

She couldn't put it off anymore; she was ready to go.

The doorbell chimed downstairs. Judging by the loud noises outside, Shay and his entourage – not to mention a considerable amount of paparazzi – were outside waiting for her.

Jude left her house on Shay's arm with the flashing lights from cameras exploding in her face. The white light blinded her but all she could think of was Tommy and how _he'd_ look tonight.

Whilst she hoped that tonight would be the night that Tommy would talk to her again.

* * *

Tommy strolled into G Major, without a care, an hour after the party had kicked off. The walls were decorated with both him and Jude's album cover art, the DJ switching between both of their tracks in an attempt to appease everybody.

His body was encased in tight, black jeans, his shirt clinging tightly to his upper body as his eyes were hidden behind his trademark sunglasses. They'd mainly been for protection from the flashing paparazzi cameras and, having served their purpose, he slipped them off, slipping them into his jeans pocket.

Nodding to the many people who'd acknowledged him, Tommy stalked through the masses of record executives, thoughts of one girl on his mind.

It had driven him crazy to watch her in public with _Shay Mills_. Behind G Major's closed doors, Jude ignored Shay like the plague – clearly not wanting anything to do with him. The same couldn't be said for Shay, though. He followed Jude around like a dog its owner – even going as far as to convince Darius that they should release a single together.

"Tommy!" The sound of his name jarred him out of his less than pleasant thoughts and Tommy smiled gratefully at Kwest. "How you holding up?"

"You mean for the whole five minutes that I've been here?"

Kwest laughed and shook his head before whistling. "Hey," he nodded in the direction of a thick throng of people. "You seen Harrison tonight?"

Tommy remained silent, clenched his fists and shook his head. If Kwest meant Jude then he couldn't be held responsible for what was going to happen next.

"There she is," A smile broke across his face as Sadie Harrison came into view. "Isn't she gorgeous?"

But Tommy's attention was no longer on Sadie, not when she was talking to her sister, who was wearing the shortest, most jaw-dropping dress and attracting the attention of every available male in the building.

A jab to the ribs with Kwest's elbow had him nodding agreeably. "Yes," he answered, mind on a different Harrison. "She is."

"Do you think that I should go talk to her?"

Tommy nodded again, purely selfish thoughts in his head. If Kwest talked to Sadie, it meant that Jude was left alone. Which meant that he could get her alone for the first time in two weeks, and talk to her.

He watched, silently, brushing off the attention of people coming up to him, as his producer interrupted the two girls and Jude graciously stood back with a knowing smile in her sister's direction.

Slowly pushing away from the wall he was leaning against, Tommy walked purposefully towards his other Instant Star and wrapped his arm around her waist, without her seeing who he was.

"Shay," she whispered in a hiss as she tried to pull out of his steel grip. "Please, not now."

"Well," Tommy muttered, placing his lips against her temple. "It's a good thing that I'm not Shay."

"I don't want to talk to you _either_," she spat, ignoring the thrills that shot through her at his touch. "I haven't been good enough for you for the past fourteen days, why now?"

"Been counting, have you?"

"Hardly."

With a scoff and a tug, Jude managed to untwine herself from Tommy's grip and turn to glare at him accusingly. "Why now?" She repeated.

"Because now," Tommy insisted, walking closer to her, picking up a tendril of hair and twisting it between his fingers. "Your little boy toy isn't around."

"He is," she responded, looking around her. "Somewhere."

"He's not with you."

Jude remained silent before sighing. "What do you want, Tommy?"

"I want," his voice was a husky whisper as he touched his lips to Jude's ear, only a hairbreadths away, "you to break up with him."

"I'm not going out with him."

"To all intents and purposes," Tommy's hand snaked in hers and jerked her into the cocoon of his arms. "You are." His arms banded around her waist. "And now I want you to break up with him."

"You have no right to tell me what to do."

"I think," he insisted. "I do. Considering you don't want to be with him any more than I want you to."

"But –"

He cut her off with his lips falling down onto hers. They were in a relatively secluded part of the room and, apart from the few surprised glances, went unnoticed. The kiss was harsh and possessive but neither would have pulled away if the world were ending.

Eventually, the need to breathe took over them and they pulled apart quickly, breathing heavily as he rested his forehead against hers.

"You see now?" He demanded. "Why I want you to break up with him?"

Jude shook her head futilely. "No," she whispered, knowing it was a lie even as she said it.

Relenting, Tommy's gaze dropped to the floor as he let go of Jude, who took the opportunity for what it was and ran away into more populated areas. He sighed shakily as he watched her go before making his way to the refreshment table and downing a glass of champagne.

The flashes of paparazzi cameras blinded him from the corner of his vision but he paid them no attention – until he heard what they were chanting.

'_Kiss her! Kiss her! Kiss her!'_

Almost apprehensively, Tommy turned his head to see Jude trapped in Shay's arms and his grip tightened on the glass in his hand. It only took Shay's head leaning towards Jude's and the stiffening of her back as he kissed her to enrage Tommy.

The sound of the glass smashing went unnoticed in the sound of righteous applause. No one saw it coming.

Tommy stormed over to the couple and pulled Shay away from Jude, cocking back his fist and punching him – _hard_ – in his eye.

"Fuck!" The curse rolled off his lips as shards of glass embedded themselves further in his skin with the force of the punch.

Jude screamed as the clicking sound of cameras filled the otherwise silent hall.

Blood dripping from his hand, Tommy turned to look pointedly at Jude before leaving the album launch party, flashes following him as the whispers in the room started to grow.

And throughout it all, Jude could only watch him leave.


	5. Pretty Girl

**A.N - Hey guys, sorry for the slight delay. It's been kind of hectic for me. But that last episode? Anyone else wish that it would just disappear? I vote that we all make _Gimme Gimme Shock Treatment_ the last episode of the season. Then make Tommy's proposal a mini.**

**Then I'm happy. :)**

* * *

**FIVE**

_Pretty girl is suffering  
__While he confesses everything  
__Pretty soon she'll figure out  
__What his intentions were about  
__-- Sugarcult_

The next day was a whirlwind of photographers, interviewers, television cameras … What felt like the whole world was camped outside of G Major records all awaiting the arrival of one Tommy Quincy, desperate for his side of the seemingly unprovoked attack on Shay Mills.

It was like they had won Instant Star all over again. Okay, it was like Tommy had won Instant Star and Jude had come an overall _last_. All the press coverage was on him, not her, for which she was grateful, if even a little worried for Tommy. Sometimes these paparazzi don't know when to stop.

Jude held the phone to her ear desperately, hearing the dial tone ring and praying for someone to pick up. Hoping. Wishing.

"Any luck?"

Jumping up, Jude snapped the phone shut with a start.

"You scared me!" She accused her sister, glancing down at the phone sadly, wishing to see Tommy's face pop up as a caller ID. She'd only been given his number at Darius' insistence but she was glad for that little fact now. "But no, nothing. I don't get it. He has to be somewhere."

"Well," Sadie answered, looking past her sister's shoulder. "Maybe he didn't even leave the building?"

Jude's reply was to jerk her head upwards sharply. "Yeah," she scoffed, glancing over her shoulder to find what had gained Sadie's attention. "Right." Her words trailed off as her eyes clashed with the warm brown ones of Tommy Quincy, hidden in the shadows of the building, out of the public eye.

Immediately, Jude strode towards him purposefully, reaching her hand out to cup his face and push her thumb gently across the purple bruises under his eyes, indicating a sleepless night. "Tommy," she spoke loudly and instantly received a rough, calloused hand slapping her mouth shut and muffling the words.

"Shh," He glanced around the pair, looking for anybody who had heard them before deciding that they were safe and removing his hand from her mouth, only to leave it rubbing circles on her arm. "I'm trying to avoid all of that out there."

It was clear, even with just a head inclination, what Tommy meant and Jude nodded in response, letting herself be led into the studio where Tommy had spent the night. His guitar rested against the recording booth and the piano top was open, music manuscripts scattered across the keys. It was clear what he'd spent the night doing. Jude picked up a sheet covered with messily penned words and chords and read it silently.

"It's beautiful." The whispered compliment rolled off her lips without a thought. Tommy's hand gently pushed the manuscript away and kissed her softly, his scarred hand rising to cup her cheek. "Tommy," she sighed pulling apart from him and pressing her lips to his injured hand. "You're hurt."

"I'm fine," he insisted. "It doesn't hurt."

"Why did you do it?" She traced the fading harsh red scars along his wrist. "You knew … how I feel about him."

"That doesn't matter," Tommy shook his head. "I don't like you with him."

"There's not much I can do about that Tommy."

"Yes there is." He fixed her with a shiver-inducing glance. "This afternoon." At her confused look, he elaborated. "I've arranged a press conference for this afternoon – to explain what happened last night, and to announce that we're together."

She ducked her head and Tommy ducked with her, tucking a lock of scarlet hair behind her shoulder. "So," he smiled. "What do you say?"

* * *

"Absolutely not!"

There were now whole new reasons to hate Darius Mills. Only problem is, Tommy had a three-album contract with G Major and therefore was forced to endure him.

Tommy had barely had time to rejoice in the fact that Jude wanted their relationship announced. The age thing they could deal with – they knew there'd be repercussions – as long as nothing overly illegal happened. Jude had wanted to get away from Shay 'recently-had-my-nose-broken' Mills and let Tommy stake his claim – in a manner of speaking – instead. But Darius wouldn't let them.

"But," Jude began, eyes wide and glazed with anger. "Why?"

"I can't have my two stars together." He stated easily, as if they should know better. "That's almost expected to happen. It's _clichéd_." He said the word with disgust. "No, Jude with Shay is a twist that no one expected. It's going to stay that way. We need the publicity to promote her album."

"Maybe I don't care about my album!" Jude cried. "What if I'd rather just be with Tommy?"

"That's not in your contract."

The two locked eyes in a battle of wills before Jude snapped and stormed out of the office, angrily swiping tears from her cheeks. Tommy jumped up to follow her. To comfort her.

"Hold on there, Quincy." Darius halted him. "I need to talk to you."

"I've already explained what happened with Shay." Darius waved that away.

"I know," he insisted. "I was talking about the other thing. Making your and Jude's relationship public?"

"You mean –"

"Out of the question."

"Then I'm not interested."

He was at the door when Darius' next words made him freeze.

"We can give you a public girlfriend." He suggested. "If you want."

Without another word, Tommy left the room, eyebrows furrowed in thought.

* * *

"Tommy Q! Tommy Q!" Reporters screamed his name at him, wanting the Instant Star to answer _their _questions and no one else's. His eyes fell shut as the question he'd been waiting for pushed its way above the crowd. "Tommy! Why did you punch Shay Mills at your album launch party?"

And, surprisingly, it had taken a while to come up.

"He," Tommy paused. "He was hurting someone I care about."

This started off a fresh buzz of conversation.

"Who?" Was shouted at him. "Whom do you care about? How did he hurt her?"

This is where the problems began. Did he admit how he cared for Jude? Or take up Darius' offer of a public girlfriend? Did he want to make Jude jealous? Make her feel what he felt every time he saw her with Shay?

Sighing, he answered the question.

Because, in the end, there was no choice in it.

* * *

_Tommy left Darius' office, head swimming with the new information he'd been provided with. He had only a few hours before needing to make a decision but he'd only taken a few steps before he found Jude Harrison, shoulders shaking with the force of suppressing sobs. Silently, he walked behind her, kissing her shoulder calmly and collecting her in his arms._

_"It'll be okay, Jude." He insisted, letting the girl in his arms turn and rest her cheek against his chest. He saw the angry tear tracks staining her cheek and felt anger of his own rise up in his chest. He hated seeing pretty girls cry. "I promise you."_

_"All I want," she whispered, "is to be able to spend time with you – without the fear of getting caught. I want to get away from Shay and his posse. I want to be with you."_

_"I want to be with you too, Harrison."_

_She smiled at the sound of her last name rolling off of his tongue._

_"What are we going to do?"_

_His lips fell down on Jude's possessively, showing whoever was watching to stay away from her. She had a boyfriend. Tommy pulled away with a smile on his face. He was Jude Harrison's boyfriend._

_He liked the sound of it._

_"I'll make the announcement." He promised. "Then, we'll deal."_

* * *

"Whom do you care about, Tommy?"

His answer was two simple words but he spoke them in a voice full of wonder, awe and happiness.

"Jude Harrison."


	6. Lights & Sounds

**A.N - I'm so sorry for the delay in updating. It was part lack of inspiration, part forgetting where I wanted to take this and part laziness. Then, as I chose a song quote, I went on holiday. I got back this morning, I'm shattered, but I'll update for you guys anyway. Cos I'm soooo sorry I waited so long. **

**Hopefully, now that I'm out of school, updates should be considerbly faster. Hope you like. (:**

* * *

**Six**

_Stop, turn, take a look around  
__At all the lights and sounds  
__Let them bring you in  
Slow, burn, let it all fade out  
And pull the curtain down  
I wonder where you've been  
__-- Yellowcard_

There was nothing more beautiful to him than the girl – _woman_ – who was pouring her heart out into the microphone, the complexity of her feelings wrapped in the simplicity of a song.

_Jude Harrison_ – two simple words, one name, that had changed his life more than once. The person who had challenged him, pushed him to succeed in this competition.

Tommy had noticed her almost immediately. Her fiery red hair and slightly out-there look had caught his attention and held it, her luminous eyes, wide with awe at where she was whilst her sinfully red lips chattered excitedly to her best friend. He heard her sing. Her voice drifted from behind the closed audition room doors, twined with the haunting melody of her guitar and he knew that she was going to go far in this Instant Star business.

Just as he knew that he needed to do just as well if he ever hoped to talk to her.

Who would have thought that he'd be able to sit with her, alone, in a studio, listening to her write and record before anyone else knew she had a song idea?

"Jude," his finger pushed the button which would allow her to hear him. It took a few seconds for Jude to snap out of her trance and glance up at him through the pane of glass that separated them. "That was … is amazing."

A small blush settled on her cheeks, hidden by the confident smile she wore instead.

"Really?" She drawled, setting aside the guitar and walking seductively towards him. "Amazing, huh?"

Tommy stood up, meeting her halfway at the door that separated the recording booth from the studio.

"Amazing," he kissed her cheek. "Melodic." Her nose. "Beautiful." His lips lingered against hers, never pushing for more, it was just … there. Soft, gentle … loving.

"So," she whispered. "You like it?"

He nodded and murmured against her lips.

"So you'll sing it with me?" She asked, fear lacing her tone in spite of her bravado. "Tonight?"

It was her fear, more than anything, that had him agreeing before he realised what she was talking about.

"Of course, Jude, if you want me to." He smiled, pulling away from her slightly whilst resting his hands on her waist. His face twisted into an adorable frown. "What's tonight?"

Her ruby lips travelled to his ear, kissing the skin just below his lobe as Tommy sucked in a harsh breath at her unexpected action.

"You'll see," she whispered before placing her hand at the back of his head and pulling him towards her, his lips falling on hers powerfully, the kiss demanding and harsh.

It was a flash of light that had them breaking apart guiltily, and the sound of an unfamiliar man's voice that had them removing all contact with one another.

"I can see it now," the man, who had a rugged beard and a hoarse voice, drew attention to himself by drawing a hand across the empty air in front of him, as if he was depicting a masterpiece.. "That old saying of mixing business with pleasure seems to be true in this case."

Tommy's eyes narrowed at the mystery reporter. "Who are you?" He demanded, immediately reaching for Jude's hand for comfort – an action frozen in time with the flash of the man's camera.

"Can't go a minute without the physical contact," he mused. "Perhaps hinting at a cold family upbringing?"

Tommy froze, his hand snatching out of Jude's as he dodged all of her attempts at re-establishing the contact.

"Lover's tiff, already?" A long finger came up to scratch the beard-covered chin. "Shame, I was hoping for a bigger scoop on you guys."

Jude's eyes darted from her shockingly still boyfriend, to the reporter who had rendered him in this state to begin with. Her eyes narrowed as her anger rose.

"Who are you?" She fired at him. "How did you even get in here?"

He glanced over his shoulder, winking at someone who'd moved away too quickly for Jude to see them. "I have my contacts."

"Listen, buddy," Jude spat. "You are going to leave that camera with us and get out of here, or I'll –"

"You'll what?" The man reacted instantly, rough hands gripping her face tightly. "Hit me with your guitar?" He shook his head sardonically. "Don't you know how much they cost?"

"I'll have you arrested for trespassing."

The man's harsh laughter snapped Tommy's attention back to the situation Jude had gotten herself into.

"In a public place?" He countered. "Not likely."

Tommy thundered towards the man, pulling him away from Jude and gaining some attention from the passers-by in the lobby as a result.

"This building is a business place," Tommy informed him. "I'll fill in a Persona Non Grata on you and you won't be welcome here again. _Then_ you'll be trespassing."

Jude stood, slightly to the side, watching the scene unfold – like everyone else watching – only she was the only one to hear what was being said. Her cheeks were red, the scrape of a nail evident below her eye. It stung.

"Now," Tommy demanded in an eerily calm tone. "Your name?"

The man's name was lost to Jude, covered by a cloak of unbelieving laughter. Tommy, however, was apparently satisfied with what he heard and eased his bruising grip on the man's arm. The man took advantage and twisted free completely, dartingout of the studio before more bodily harm came his way. But Tommy had lost all interest, instead his attention was focused on Jude, his hand cupping her injured cheek lightly as his thumb brushed against the small red welt that stood out against her skin. "Are you okay?"

She barely got a nod out before the studio door was flung open again. Instinctively, Jude was pushed behind Tommy, who took a protective stance in case the reporter from before had ignored his threats completely and returned.

"What was all that about?" Sadie Harrison asked, stopping her sister from actually answering by cutting her off immediately. "Actually, never mind. I don't think I want to know. Darius on the other hand …" She trailed off and Tommy and Jude exchanged a knowing look. "He's pissed. Wants to see you in his office."

* * *

He hated himself. Jude had needed him – she would never admit it, but he knew it was true. She had been hurt, in trouble, and he could do nothing but stand still, frozen with the hurt of a past he'd tried to forget.

Whilst the girl that was his present – and possible future – needed him, all he could do was … nothing.

Tommy walked with Jude towards Darius Mills' office, his hand resting protectively at the small of her back. He'd felt useless, and all because of one person.

The man, who hadn't left the building like had been requested of him and was instead watching them from the shadows of the building, camera dangling delicately from his fingers; Tommy could feel the burn of his stare against the back of his head.

One man.

_Hunter._


	7. All I Ever Wanted

**A.N - Okay, I kind of have an idea where this is going now, so this chapter is more of a filler, or a bridge to the next stage of plot. But next chapter we move forwards, so it's ok. xD**

**Thanks for all your reviews. I appreciate it mucho. :)**

* * *

**Seven**

_All I ever wanted  
__Was to see you smiling  
__All I ever wanted  
__Was to make you mine  
__-- Basshunter_

"I just can't deal with it, Jamie!" Jude was in her bedroom, angrily pacing the floor whilst hoards of photographers surrounded the house, hoping for a scoop. "They're always there. All the time!"

"Well, Jude," he replied. "You knew that with the competition – especially, you know, _winning it_ – that the paparazzi was kind of a given." He pushed himself off the bed and walked towards the window to look down at the people.

"I know," she admitted, collapsing on her bed and pulling out her notebook, writing down a few choice words as writing prompts when she'd get around to it. She heard a surge of excitement and the clicking of cameras. Confused, she lifted her head and saw Jamie peering down. "Get away from the window!" She hissed, pleased when he did that and sat down on the bed next to her.

"Thanks," she breathed out a sigh of a relief. "The last thing I need is the paparazzi thinking that I'm cheating on Tommy with a mystery man." She laughed, not noticing the hurt look on Jamie's face. "I'm just not used to so much attention, you know? I mean, I'm just Jude Harrison."

Silence reigned in the room, spreading out and filling the space uncomfortably. Both occupants shifted where they sat. Jude filled the silence by humming softly to herself whereas Jamie chose to drum his fingers against his knee.

"So," he spoke finally, "you and Tommy are pretty serious then? Not like that thing you had with Shay?"

Jude's eyes fell shut. "Shay was Darius' choice. I just went along with it." She paused, thinking about Tommy. His face, his eyes crinkling in laughter, his smile … "But, yeah, I guess. I care about Tommy. A _lot_."

Jamie pouted adorably. "More than me?"

Smiling, Jude leaned over and planted a kiss on his cheek. "I care about you guys in different ways, Jamie." She spoke quietly. "You know that."

Jamie froze, his hand coming to touch his cheek before he ghosted it over Jude's scarlet hair. "Just make sure he treats you right," he swore. "Or Little Tommy Q will have me to answer to."

"Hey, that rhymed!" Jude laughed. "I knew there was a reason you're my co-writer."

"I mean it, Jude." He insisted. "All I want is for you to be happy."

The seriousness of the moment became clear to Jude in that second and she refrained from making another joke.

"I know." Her voice was warm, accepting and, above all, happy. "And I am." A grin spread across her face. "Thank you."

Smiling, Jamie pulled her to him in a tight hug. He might've wanted to be more then just Jude's friend once but now he'd take anything over nothing. Jude buried her face into his neck, breathing in pure Jamie as she realised that they were truly friends forever, cheesy as it may sound. And it was that thought, more than anything, which had the clicks of a camera belonging to the man outside Jude's window left soundless to the couple as they platonically embraced.

* * *

Darius had ordered Jude and Tommy to stay away from each other. That was the gist of the meeting that he'd ordered the two of them to attend. Following that, her sister had taken Jude away and Tommy hadn't seen her since. Whenever he'd tried to leave his apartment, photographers had hounded him and he knew that Jude was suffering the same fate.

Which only left the phone.

He was sat sulking, moodily flicking through the television channels, when his cell phone lit up, the harsh _bzzz_-ing noise of the vibrations against the table surface jolting him to attention. Smiling at the picture that accompanied the name on Caller I.D, he flipped the phone up. "Hey, Jude," he greeted.

"Not Jude," Sadie Harrison's voice disappointed him and Tommy fought the urge to hang up again. "But _we_ need to talk."

"Do we now?" Tommy drawled, bored. "What about?"

"My sister."

Tommy was instantly alert. "What happened?"

Sadie rolled her eyes at his change of opinion. _From bored to worried in two seconds flat._ "It's nothing to worry about." She insisted. "It's just, Portia told me some of the things that Darius has planned for her. And you, actually. We just need to make sure that you won't overreact to some of them."

Anger pounded through his veins as he clutched his cell phone tighter. He wasn't too excited to find out the publicity stunts Darius wanted her to pull. Sometimes he wished that he'd been the apple of Darius' business-oriented eyes, to save Jude the embarrassment. But it hadn't worked out that way. And G Major was pushing for Jude to be the winner, to be _the_ instant star.

"Fine," was all he could manage to grind out between clenched teeth.

"So, I'll come over there and we can discuss –"

"No." His curt response was unexpected. Sadie jumped. "You can't come here," he continued. "The paparazzi would have a field day." Feeling suddenly exhausted, Tommy pinched the bridge of his nose. "And I can't come to your house either."

The line remained silent as both tried to think of a solution.

"Look," Sadie finally spoke. "There's a little café not far from G Major. We can meet for a business lunch. Purely innocent, right?"

Tommy agreed half-heartedly and hung up. What started innocently could often be twisted and that's when rumours started. He knew that. All Tommy wanted – _really_ wanted – was to spend some time with his girlfriend. Without siblings, bosses, friends or the media getting in the way. He just wanted some alone time with her. His girl.

He fiddled with his phone again, keying in a text message before hitting send with a smile on his face and leaving his apartment to meet the sister of the girl he really wanted to see.

* * *

"Hey, Jude," Sadie knocked on her sister's bedroom door softly before pushing it open and stepping inside. "I found your phone downstairs."

"Thanks," Jude smiled, humming and scribbling down into her omnipresent notebook. Jamie had gone home, out the back door and over the fence to dodge the photographers outside.

"I'm going out," Sadie continued, chucking the phone at her sister, who dodged it indignantly. "I'll be back in an hour or so."

"See ya."

Shaking her head, Sadie left the room just as the small cell phone screen lit up. Jude glanced at the phone and saw the name _Tommy_ before smiling widely and opening up the message.

_Love to Burn_, it read. _An Instant Star duet. Work on it tomorrow? Miss you. T._

She rolled her eyes as she replied with a simple _'Sure. See you then. Miss you too. x'_ knowing that Tommy was only hiding what he really wanted to say with a song he wanted to share with her. He didn't know it any other way.

But she knew what it meant to him. To share his music was halfway to settling down in the same apartment as each other – it was such a big part of both of their lives.

Music was the way to their hearts.


	8. Temper, Temper

**A.N - I think I'm going to have to dedicate this one to Emily. One of my best friends and a faithful reader. This is for you Em, hoping you will come back online soon and ease me away from my boredom. You said goodbye with no more than a 'ding-a-ling'. I miss you.**

**Thank you to everyone who read and reviewed the last chapter, and for bearing with me. There's more plot now. Aren't you happy? :)**

* * *

**Eight**

_And so I bottled it up and kept the words to myself,  
And let the anger collect for a better day.  
When the words are aged,  
The war is waged,  
And you'll watch me blow.  
__-- Elliot Minor_

Tommy Quincy was getting so tired of the clicking whirs of cameras and the bright flashes of privacy invasion. He knew that winning this Instant Star gig came with overbearing, pushy managers and paparazzi willing to do anything for a scoop. But it had only gotten unbearably annoying following his press conference about Jude. Which had only brought her down with him.

Tommy groaned, letting his head fall into his hands as he did so and resisting the urge to smack it against the expensive studio equipment. He was such a bad boyfriend.

"You okay?" The object of his thoughts walked into his line of vision, guitar in her hand and with a pen stuck haphazardly behind her ear.

"Not really," he admitted, cocking his head as he took her in. After a pause, he held open his arms and invited her towards him. "Come here."

Smiling, she happily wrapped her arms around his neck and curled into his lap before kissing the corner of his mouth. "So," she drawled out the word immaturely, making it last several syllables. "What's wrong?"

Tommy sighed as a brief, sarcastic laugh escaped him tiredly. "What isn't?"

Jude frowned in agreement, her fingers trailing the veins in his arms, deep in thought. In response, Tommy tightened his grip slightly before reaching up to play with the straightened lock of hair that had escaped the confines of Jude's bobble.

"Do you think I should dye it blonde?"

He didn't answer immediately. Instead, he twisted the scarlet lock around his finger, staring at the intense colour and trying to imagine it the colour that she wanted it.

"I think your hair would look great whatever the colour," he insisted, making sure to cover all ground first of all. "But blonde would bring out your eyes more."

She smiled at the comment and, when inspiration quickly struck, the pen was out from behind her ear and she scratched out the words _spark_ and _flame_ on her hand, the dark inky blue harsh against her pale skin.

Tommy's eyebrow rose slowly, pushing for an answer that was never given. His reply was a sly smile and a quick kiss before he found his arms empty.

"How about we write that song you told me about?" Jude asked.

Smirking, Tommy realised. And nodded his head.

"Give me a pen," he stole Jude's, winking at her outraged look, and sat at the piano, lifting the lid and smoothing his fingers over the ivory keys before beginning to experiment with chords. He felt Jude's presence behind him as she smoothed sheets of blank manuscript paper down onto the stand and scrawled in her messy, songwriter penmanship the three words he'd messaged to her last night.

_Love to Burn._

* * *

They'd barely begun before the studio door was opened carefully by a man who cared about the expense, should he break it, and, in the next moment, Darius Mills stood surveying the scene he'd walked in on.

His two instant stars sat on the piano stool, hands' twisting over each other's in order to push their version of the tune forward whilst the other crossed out and re-wrote the manuscript. Tommy had a smudge of red on his cheek – lipstick, probably – and a small heart drawn onto his hand. Jude had a small 'T' drawn onto her cheek, close to the side of her mouth, in what was obviously her eyeliner. He rolled his eyes.

"Well," he began. "As long as you're doing something productive, I suppose I can't complain." He looked pointedly at Jude's exposed stomach, her boyfriend having pushed up her shirt during an earlier make-out session.

Blushing, Jude covered the exposed skin and nodded hurriedly. "Yep," she insisted. "New song, almost done."

Tommy remained silent, arms coming around his girlfriend as he glared at the man who had plans to effectively whore Jude out for music sales. His meeting yesterday with Sadie had informed him of Darius' plans to get Jude onto the cover of numerous magazines in revealing clothing – an effort to appeal to her male market. Well, it wasn't going to happen.

"Have either of you checked the paper this morning?" Darius ignored the hostility that was coming off of his male winner in waves and instead waved the thick, folded wad of paper in the air. "Album chart."

His two stars looked at each other warily and Darius smirked at the couple.

"I'll leave it here," he informed them. "It's up to you if you want to know who's number one."

When they were alone once more, Jude twisted in her boyfriend's grip, smiling up at him excitedly.

"We're in the charts, Tommy!" He chuckled at her enthusiasm. "How cool is that?"

"Yeah, but one of us is better than the other." He reminded her. "Do you want to know who?"

Her smile faltered as her eyes darted from the newspaper to her boyfriend, frantically and never for more then a second until her eyes locked with the dark brown ones of one Tommy Quincy.

"Nah," she giggled, kissing him. "I'm good."

Smiling, Tommy found his hands cradling Jude's hips as he kissed her properly. "Good. I don't want to know either."

Just as he was about to push the paper away from them and onto the floor where, hopefully, someone could walk all over it to make the writing illegible, the studio door opened again, and in walked Sadie Harrison. Tommy groaned, his forehead falling to rest against Jude's in annoyance.

"Oh, good," Sadie said, ignoring the public display of affection her little sister was wrapped up in. "You guys have the paper. Have you seen the front cover?"

"No," surprisingly, it was Jude who spoke up, and not Tommy as it had been before. "And we don't care either. Sadie, can't you just go? You know we get no privacy anywhere else."

"Jude, I think you're going to want to see this." She glanced over at the man her sister was with. "You too, Tommy."

Sceptically, Tommy held his hand out for the offending newspaper and instantly flipped to the front cover, not bothering to look at the chart.

**_QUINCY'S QUEST FOR LOVE_**

The headline screamed at him, coupled with photos from Hunter's _visit_ to the studio. They showed the progression of that day, the fun, carefree mood prior to Hunter's arrival, his comforting her and his hand being snatched away. Coupled with it was an article enlightening the world to his childhood of neglect that he didn't care to read. He'd lived through it.

Jude snatched the paper out of his hand quickly. "What?" She asked, scared. "What have they said?" She took in the photos, the headline and the opening sentence before she set the paper down, knowing he didn't want anyone knowing about this. "Tommy," she whispered, clutching his hand in support. "Are you okay?"

"I will be." His voice was harsh, rugged and it surprised her. "Just …"

A short growl escaped him in his anger and he wadded up the paper into a ball before throwing at the expensive equipment that remained unharmed due to the mediocrity of the impact.

Sadie left the studio silently, leaving the angry man to her sister whom she was sure could calm him down.

"Tommy," Jude forced his head up to look at him. "It'll be alright, really. It's just another member of the paparazzi wanting to mess with you. To wind you up."

"How did he find out?" It seemed more like Tommy was talking to himself than his girlfriend. "I tried _so hard_ for _no one_ to find that out."

Jude said nothing, only ran her hand up and down his arm in a comforting gesture. "I'm sorry."

"Aargh!" This time, the shout was punctuated with his fingers curling and closing into a fist before it was pushed into a nearby sound system. Jude's eyes instantly widened, her mouth falling open to form a small 'o' of surprise.

"Tommy," she began. "You're going to get in trouble for that."

"I don't care." He insisted, pushing the scarlet locks away from her face as he cupped her cheek and gripped her hand. "I don't." There was a pause as the pair looked at each other. "Run away with me?"

Her azure eyes widened again. "Tommy, I –"

"Please." His eyes were wide, pleading. "We can do it. Just to … get away. Away from the press, away from the studio. Away from all of this." He kissed her softly. "Just you and me. What do you say?"

Jude nodded quickly and laughed as he hugged her happily. "And, hey," she said happily. "We can see what I'd look like with that blonde hair."


	9. Breathing

**A.N – Okay, guys. This is a kind of jumpy chapter. Follow it if you can! Hope you like. (:**

* * *

**Nine**

_Something I've been keeping locked away behind my lips  
I can feel it breaking free with each and every kiss_  
_-- Yellowcard_

Amazingly, it took just two days before their runaway world imploded.

It had been going so well. From the moment they had left, undetected, from the G Major offices, to the trip to the salon the day before which hade Jude's scarlet locks dyed a beautiful blonde.

But it was where they stood now, in a 7-Eleven, with a newspaper clutched in Jude's hand as tears welled in her eyes, which had Tommy's heart clenching in fear.

"What is this?" Jude demanded, refusing to give her tears life.

His mouth opened, and then closed again, no words escaping. Finally, all he could do was drop his head to the floor and bite back tears himself.

* * *

_Two Days Earlier_

Jude left the studio first, giggling as Tommy walked her to the door and kissed her, flashes exploding as she pushed him away lightly and laughter escaping her lips as Tommy pressed his lips to hers once again. Their lips met, eyes falling shut as they whispered goodbyes.

An hour following Jude Harrison's departure, Tommy Quincy strolled out of the building, hands shoved deep inside his coat pockets, a scarf wound around his neck as he braved the harsh winds. He left via the alley door, hoping to dodge the paparazzi, who were sure to be littering the outside sidewalk with cigarette butts.

His beloved viper sat in the space he was met with and Tommy smirked as he clicked open the car doors before sliding in behind the wheel, revving the engine with a cocky smile on his face before tearing out of the alley for – _hopefully_ – the final time. He and his girl would be on the road to freedom within the next ten minutes.

The woman that stood at the door, waving him off with a deliriously happy smile on her face, and the dreaded flash which captured the moment, remained unnoticed as Tommy's thoughts remained on his future with Jude.

* * *

_Present_

"What's the matter, Tommy?" Jude laughed wryly. The sound was ugly as it fell off of her lips. "Cat got your tongue?"

His eyes fell shut, fists clenching at his sides. "Jude," He began. "I –"

"You what?" She cut him off. "Why don't you tell me, _Tommy_, just what you were doing on a date with my sister?"

"I wasn't –" The denial was ready on his tongue before he shook his head and remained silent. There was no point in even trying to explain that it had been a business meeting. The picture told her everything she apparently wanted to know. Her boyfriend and her sister sitting opposite each other, Sadie leaning closer to Tommy as she discussed the exploitation Darius had planned.

"Or, better yet, what you were doing with Portia Mills?"

His eyes widened at that, shock lining his features as he sputtered out refusals. "Jude, no. _No!_" The paper was snatched from her hands as Tommy quickly read the article before his eyes were drawn to the image of Portia and her stupidly happily smile waving him goodbye as her other hand touched her lips. "The thing with Sadie, I can explain. But nothing – _nothing_ – has ever happened with Portia."

Her silence was horrible. He'd prefer her screaming, sobbing, hey, even throwing things at him. Jude's uncharacteristic silence cut at him like a knife, the tears streaming down her face stabbing at him.

"But, you …" Her voice caught on a sob. "You and _Sadie_?"

"Hey!" Tommy was saved from answering by a teenage boy, buying alcohol with a fake I.D, calling out to the couple. "It's Jude Harrison! I heard you were juggling two guys." He paused, wiggling his eyebrows suggestively. "Fancy a third?"

Tommy's arm was around her in an instant, dropping the paper back on the pile as he glared at the teenager and led his girlfriend out of the shop. Jude's cheeks were stained a bright red, the colour resembling her hair of two days ago. Her blonde locks fell around her head, hiding herself from the enquiring gaze of her boyfriend.

His fingers forced her chin up so she had to look at him as he talked to her and each word he spoke, he spoke icily. "And just who," he inquired, emotionless, "Would this other guy be?"

* * *

_One Day Earlier_

"I can't believe that Jude Harrison dyed her hair blonde." Jamie's voice comforted her as he spoke to her through the phone. "I always thought you were so against the blonde bimbo image. You're joining them now, Harrison."

"Ha, ha." She said sarcastically, smiling. Jamie was the only person who knew what she and Tommy had done, in the running away sense. "You're hilarious, Andrews."

"I try."

Tommy was down at reception, checking in for the night. He thought that nobody knew of their plan, and that's the way it was going to stay.

"Hey," Jamie jolted her back to attention; the faint rustling of a newspaper could be heard through the phone connection. "I'm in the paper." He laughed. "'Jude's Hidden Lover.' Can you believe these guys?"

Jude froze. The day that she and Jamie had been in her bedroom, scribbling lyrics, talking, reflecting, jumped into her mind. The paparazzi that had been flocked outside and the rousing voices when Jamie had gone to the window.

"I mean," Jamie continued. "Sure, we used to have a thing."

"Briefly." Jude interjected.

"But, you're like a sister to me now. That's just … incest."

"Good thing it's not true then." The sound of footsteps approaching the hotel room filtered through her concentration. "I have to go. See you, brother."

His laughter was heard as she flipped the phone down and threw it aside, casting her gaze towards the door.

"Hey, baby."

She walked towards him, wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him, ignoring the thought of whom she'd been talking to mere seconds before. "Hey. What you got there?" She stood on her toes and rested her hands on her boyfriend's broad chest, tilting her head to try and see around him and to what he held in his hands.

"Exchange it for a kiss," he countered – a demand that Jude was happy to comply with. When they pulled apart, she felt a long velvet box, heavy in her hands.

Excitedly, she pulled open the delicate lid and the silver that glinted in the hotel lighting had her smiling in seconds. "You bought me a bracelet?"

Tommy smiled, taking the silver jewellery and fastening it around her dainty wrist. "A charm bracelet." He kissed her palm. "Complete with charms."

A tiny red guitar lay dangling from her wrist, a microphone and a heart keeping it company on either side.

"It's beautiful." She kissed him softly, lips lingering against each other's. "I love it."

"I love you."

* * *

_Present_

He was gone. He'd dropped her off at their hotel, shut the door and was gone, blending in with the night within seconds.

With her shoulders drooping, and her eyes half closed with exhaustion, Jude slowly made her way towards the room they'd shared.

The silver bracelet hurt her eyes and ears as the metal clinked against the door handle loudly and reflected harsh light into her eyes. That single red guitar – so similar to her own – taunted her with the need to play, write and sing. She twisted the door open easily, and instantly made her way to the bedroom.

She gasped.

Page after page of music lay on the bed, lyrics scrawled beneath the notes and chords intended for the piano to play. There, as a header, was her own writing, the words _Love To Burn_ shouting out at her. But, to the side, there was a note.

_Love to burn_, it read in Tommy's handwriting. _Our song. You can have it, record it. It's yours._

She smiled, her eyes once again filled with tears, and glanced over the lyrics they wrote. Reading the final line, the tears spilled over and Jude, finally, cried.

_I only have love to burn for you._


	10. The Great Escape

**A.N - Sorry for the delay. I have my reasons. :)**

**But this chapter should clear up any confusions you had in the last chapter. And hopefully, you guys like it. Thanks to everyone who's been reviewing! I appreciate it mucho.**

* * *

**Ten**

_Throw it away  
Forget yesterday  
We'll make the great escape  
We won't hear a word they say  
They don't know us anyway  
Watch it burn  
Let it die  
__-- Boys Like Girls_

Jude had stayed in that room for another night, her tears having finally dried up a few hours before. Now, she was lying down, looking up at the ceiling as she felt the tears dry on her cheeks whilst the eyeliner that she had applied so carefully had been ruined by her tears.

She wished she could forget the events of yesterday.

After that boy had so selfishly said what he had, and Jude had hastened to explain the mishap with Jamie and the photographers, Tommy had been almost impossible to deal with.

_"You know, Jude," Tommy stressed, eyes frighteningly empty as they focused on the road in front of him. "You know how much I find that boy irritating."_

"_There's nothing going on, Tommy," Jude's wide eyes turned to take in his steely appearance. "He's my best friend and you know that. I can't help your insecurities."_

"_**My**__ insecurities?"_

"_Yes!" She shouted. "__**Your**__ insecurities. Whatever happened to you when you were younger has totally wrecked your confidence in relationships." The silence that followed was deafening. "Look, Tommy," Jude continued, quieter. "This can work. We will work. You just have to trust me."_

"_I don't think I can."_

_Tears stung at her eyes. "Oh, great. I can trust you, even whilst there's photographic evidence of you on a date with my sister, and of you and Portia Mills. And you can't trust me alone with my best friend?"_

"_That thing with me and your sister was for work." His fingers tightened around the steering wheel as they turned the corner onto the block where their hotel was. "And I have never even looked at Portia that way. But, Jude, you and Jamie have a history together. You were together once. Now tell me how you think I can trust you."_

"_Because it's me, Tommy," Jude pushed, her hand tentatively moving forward to rest over his on the wheel. "You can trust me."_

_He pulled his hand out from underneath Jude's and glanced out the window, his reflection staring back at him against the dark night. "I can't, Jude. I'm sorry, but I can't." He paused for a second. "Maybe it has something to do with my insecurities."_

_His final words were like acid as he spat them at her and Jude exited the car angrily, watching as Tommy sped away into the distance._

Jude's fingers traced the names on the manuscript, lingering on 'Tommy Quincy'. She wished she could leave with him all over again, and do it properly this time. They could make _'The Great Escape'_.

The sound of her phone harshly vibrating against the wooden hotel drawer had her jumping up and snatching it to her ear hopefully. "Tommy?" The word escaped her in a breath of anxiety.

"Uh, no," came the voice of her best friend from down the line. "Jamie. Aren't you _with_ Tommy?"

"Long story," Jude collapsed against the bed again. "He's gone, Jamie. Can you come and pick me up?"

* * *

It was only as they pulled up to her house that Jude asked to be taken to G Major to fill in some studio time she had left over from making the album. With a beanie hat pulled low on her head, to cover her new hair, not wanting any attention, Jude ducked her head and walked into the building, going straight to an empty studio.

She sat at the piano and pulled on a pair of headphones, drowning out the rest of the world as she played her and Tommy's song.

Jude wasn't as experienced a piano player as Tommy was. The one beat too long pause between note changes was evident enough of that. Whilst Tommy's fingers had ran up and down the piano effortlessly, Jude had to focus on every key and check every note before she pushed it down and hummed the tune softly to herself.

She knew that someone would figure out what had happened sooner or later. That she and Tommy had ran away, only to have an argument so huge it potentially ruined their relationship. But she also knew that they wouldn't know the truth behind what had happened.

The more she played, the more confident she became. Jude could almost imagine Tommy sitting behind her, his fingers ghosting over hers against the cool slabs of ivory that made up the piano. She could play the chorus almost from memory.

"_Have you got love to burn,"_ Jude murmured. _"Kisses for days_._"_

She picked up a pencil and poised it above the paper, ready to change the words around. Just looking, however, at Tommy's penmanship had tears misting in her eyes and Jude found she couldn't change a single note. Not when it was hers and Tommy's. It was _theirs_. Written together.

She couldn't change it.

Blinking, she glanced up at the ceiling, forcing the tears back before she caught the eye of the man standing in front of her. Jumping up, Jude pulled the headphones off her ears and wringed her hands nervously.

"Nice to see you again, Jude," Darius Mills smirked at her. "Next time you go on a little vacation, be sure to let me know."

She said nothing, only glared at the man in front of her angrily.

"You wouldn't," he continued, ignoring Jude's feeble attempt at a protest, "happen to know where your partner in crime is, would you?"

"Who?" She asked, a confused expression scrunching up her nose. "Jamie? I'm pretty sure he went back to his house."

"Not Jamie," Darius sighed. "Tommy."

"Oh," her eyes widened. "Tommy." She paused, pretending to think over her answer. "Nope, haven't seen him in days. But, if I do, I'll be sure to –"

Her phone beeped and Jude fought hard not to let Darius know that her heart was pounding furiously against her chest, just hoping to hear from him.

And when she saw the message, her heart fell at the two words it contained.

* * *

Tommy sat against the bonnet of his car, staring out over the city he was leaving. The city where he'd left the girl he was in love with. He'd been so stupid the other night.

Shutting his eyes against the images that rose in his mind, Tommy sighed and pulled out his phone. He knew that he shouldn't have jumped to conclusions as he had done - he had experienced himself how the most innocent of gestures could be portrayed and exaggerated by the media.

Jude was an amazing girl. Her music was breathtaking and her talent extraordinary.

She didn't need the likes of Tommy Quincy tagging along beside her for the ride.

The two words that he'd typed on his screen could be taken two ways, but Tommy knew that Jude would understand the meaning he'd intended.

_"I'm sorry."_

His thumb hesitated over the send button until he shut his eyes and pushed down the key furiously. Quickly shutting his phone off, he shoved it deep into his pocket and climbed behind the wheel once more before gunning the engine and speeding off, out of Toronto, Ontario.

And away from _her_.


	11. Without You

**A.N - Hey guys, sorry for the delay. School started, and teachers got a bit homework happy.**

**And I know this may be a tad unrealistic, and it was completely pointless. But, I need the time gap in order for a song to realistically be recorded, packaged, radio air play. Etc, etc. **

**Whatever. Hope you're still with me.**

* * *

**Eleven**

_Without you, the hand gropes, the ear hears, the pulse beats  
__Without you, the eyes gaze, the legs walks, the lungs breathe  
__The mind churns  
__The heart yearns  
__The tears dry, without you  
__Life goes on, but I'm gone  
_'_Cause I die  
__Without you  
__-- Adam Pascal and Rosario Dawson_

Three Months Later

His hair had grown longer, falling past his chin in choppy curls and a dusting of stubble lay, matted, around his mouth. Tommy sat in his apartment, sprawled in a comfy chair as he cracked open his beer and swigged a satisfactory mouthful.

The papers had been full of stories about his disappearances – speculating everything from his relationship with Jude to a past that was best kept hidden as the reason. There had been press conferences held by G Major where Darius Mills had calmly informed the reporters that Tommy had gone away for an indeterminable amount of time to work on songs for his new album, whilst G Major focused their attention on the career of the other Instant Star.

And what a career she'd had in these past three months.

Tommy had watched, listened and searched every possible type of publication for a sign of her. She'd grown up – too much, too soon – that much was evident. Her short blonde hair had been styled professionally as she hid the pain in her eyes with eyeliner and mascara. She didn't look like the girl with a love of music anymore. Her voice, also, had changed. It had become more mature, more emotion-filled.

"And now," the radio presenter jovially interrupted Tommy's thoughts. "The new song from Jude Harrison, which she will only ever dedicate with the words 'Thank you'. Here we go, this is Love To Burn."

He started, beer spilling from the bottle it was in and spreading across the hardwood floors as it dropped from his hand. Fumbling, he leaned over to turn up the volume dial so that her voice could fill the room.

His heart pounded in his chest when he heard her deep, husky voice. She was singing their song.

Tommy's eyes fell shut, listening to the words they'd written together entwine with the haunting melody as his mind treated him to flashbacks of them writing, laughing, joking, kissing. They opened again, painfully red, and focused on the radio. He missed her. So much.

Everything that he hadn't wanted to happen to her, career-wise, had. She'd been the cover story on numerous magazines, her face was used for the advertising purposes of too many companies and her voice was associated with the many deals the radio stations offered to their listeners. It was exactly what he hated in a celebrity – she had sold out.

Courtesy of G Major records, of course.

He knew Jude wouldn't have wanted that for herself.

He should have stayed, should have stood up to Darius for her, and shouldn't have believed the lies the newspapers told.

"_Yeah you are here to stay."_

The words cut him with there falsity. He wasn't, he hadn't been there to stay. He'd left her. The knowledge left him with a pain in his heart.

"I love you, Jude." He whispered to the empty room, turning off the radio as he did so. "And I'm coming back to you."

* * *

"Are you ready, Jude?"

Distractedly nodding at her best friend's voice, Jude paced the backstage area, fingers plucking at her guitar strings nervously. She looked out at the swarming crowd, catching a glimpse of a dark haired man. Her breath caught as she gazed out at him, wishing for him to turn around and reveal himself.

It wasn't Tommy, and she cursed herself for even entertaining the notion.

"You're on." Jamie wrapped a comforting arm around her, resting his head atop hers. "You'll rock, as always."

She nodded and grinned at him, pushing her hair behind her ear as she pulled away from him, walking towards the stage. "You bet I will."

The crowd erupted in applause at the first sight of their idol and she walked slowly to the microphone stand at the centre of the stage.

"Hey, everyone," she smiled at the audience, her voice amplifying back to her. "I'm sure you've all heard my new song by now." The crowd's cheering answered it for her and, laughing, she continued. "So, I'm going to sing it for you now. Um, this is for someone very special to me and, wherever you are, I love you."

Jude turned her head to the band behind her, nodding to indicate they should start before turning her head back to the crowd and taking a deep breath before singing what was being tipped as her next number one. Tears gathered in her eyes as sang the words.

She missed Tommy. Since that text, she hadn't heard from him. And nor had the rest of the world. The newspapers had stubbornly refused to tell her anything about his departure or whereabouts.

The song finished, the audience singing the words back to her as Jamie smiled supportively at her from the side of the stage. She smiled back at him, blinking back the moisture in her eyes.

* * *

Portia watched from her position behind the G Major desk, talking to Sadie Harrison as the sun filtered in through the large windows, as the tall, rugged-looking man walked into the building.

He had sunglasses covering his eyes and a beanie hat covering his hair, letting loose tendrils of curls as they curled along the shape of his face. His chin was speckled with stubble and he spoke deeply. "I'm looking for Jude Harrison." He informed them, letting his shades drop slightly as he looked at Sadie. "Can you tell me where to find her?"

"I'm sorry. We're not at liberty to divulge that information."

"Studio number one."

Both Portia and Sadie spoke at once and the former glared at the other woman before nudging her harshly and hissing at her. "You know we're not allowed to do that."

The man nodded and walked away in the direction Sadie had pointed him in.

"That's Tommy, you idiot." Sadie calmly replied. "He works here, remember?"

"Oh, right," Portia stared at the glass that separated Jude from the rest of the building and watched, fuming, as she jerked her head upwards and smile brilliantly, instantly putting down her guitar and running to embrace the man. "Of course. Excuse me."

Standing, she walked away, pulling out her cell phone as she did so. "Darius?" She muttered to her brother, ensuring that she wasn't overheard, all the while keeping her eyes on Jude and Tommy, whose reunion had progressed to what she could only assume was one hell of a welcome back kiss. "We have a problem."


	12. Take A Breath

**A.N - Okay, kinda suffering a miniature writer's block on this one. Forgive me if it sucks. And for the fact that it's so short.**

**I know what direction I want to take this story in. It's just a matter of getting there.**

* * *

**Twelve**

_People change and promises are broken  
__Clouds can move and skies will be wide open  
__So don't forget to take a breath  
__-- Jonas Brothers_

"I thought you said that you could break them up." Darius demanded, his voice low and angry but no less intimidating. "And all you manage to do is separate them for three months?"

His fury was lost on the man opposite him, who merely calmly regarded him with an uninterested expression. "So I try again." Hunter shrugged. "No big deal."

"Not to you, maybe," Darius countered. "But in the mean time, I'm giving up my money to pay _you_ while the rest of the paparazzi have a field day trying to get pictures of our two instant stars."

Hunter stood and turned his back to the owner of G-Major records. "Not my problem."

"Find something." Something in Darius' voice stopped Hunter. "Break them up. For good."

"Gladly."

At least then, perhaps his sister would stop nagging him as well. He really didn't see the big deal with this Tommy Quincy guy.

* * *

Lips fused and merged ecstatically as hands travelled the expanse of each other's backs and became entwined in each other's hair. Jude pulled back breathlessly and rested her forehead against Tommy's, their months of separation finally over and they had forgiven each other.

"Promise me," she whispered. "Promise me that you'll never believe another newspaper article about us."

"I promise," he returned, claiming her lips in another kiss as he did so. "They mean nothing. More trouble than they're worth."

Jude nodded in agreement and pulled away from him, letting the silver glint of her bracelet catch his eye. Smiling, Tommy took her hand again, kissing her pulse point as he caught the little red guitar between his thumb and forefinger.

"You kept this?" He asked reverently.

"Of course." She smiled at him. "I love you, you idiot."

Tommy chuckled deeply and let her go to finish recording as he watched her intently. She was a lot more carefree now, something he hoped he was the cause of. His presence had calmed her close-to-frazzling nerves.

"So, have you heard?" She asked, playfully averting her eyes from his.

"Heard what?"

"I'll take that as a no, then."

"Jude," Tommy began, stalking behind her and brushy her feathery blonde hair away from her neck to place soft kisses there. "What have you heard?"

"I'm not sure I want to share," she giggled femininely, dodging his advances.

"Well," he reasoned, smiling at her antics. "Does it involve me?"

She nodded. "Just a little bit."

He stood up silently, walking in front of her and encasing the girl he loved in his arms, preventing her escape and forcing her to speak to him truthfully. "Well then," he continued. "Want to let me know?"

Her lips were shut tightly, hiding the tempting flesh from eyes as her eyes sparkled with mirth and her lips spread into a wild smile, barely able to contain her excitement.

"We're going on tour!" She announced, not noticing Tommy's blanched face. "The two of us, together. Isn't it amazing?"

She hesitated uncertainly as she caught a glimpse of his less-than-happy face. "What's wrong? I thought this was a good thing?"

Tommy shrugged his momentary familial concerns aside – going on tour would distance him from them, and they needed him – and focused on the more positive aspect of the tour; uninterrupted one-on-one time with his girl. "Nothing's wrong," he insisted. "It's great, I can't wait."

Jude allowed another smiled to brighten her face before she picked up her guitar again and hummed to herself, noting down lyrics and chords with her fringe falling into her eyes and tongue slightly pushed between her lips in concentration.

Tommy had never seen a more adorable sight.

His breath pulled in sharply as his heart clenched in his chest and he realised just how much this girl meant to him.

* * *

"I need something, Portia." Hunter mumbled to her inconspicuously as he glanced around him. "Your brother isn't happy with me, my sister isn't happy with me. I need something that will split them up for good."

"You're the journalist," she countered. "Make something up. That's what you guys _do_."

"If I want the break up to stick this time," he rolled his eyes as he spoke in a monotone, not wanting to go over this with her again. "I need it to be true, I told you."

Portia's eyes narrowed at the man. "So why are you coming to me?"

He sighed exasperatedly, taking a long swig of his bottled water with his eyes shut as he attempted to calm himself down. "Because, Portia _Mills_," he stressed her last name. "You have access to G-Major's vault, background checks, past articles. Stuff like that. I know that Darius keeps everything even slightly incriminating about his artists locked away in his office."

Her mouth formed a small 'o' of surprise as she realised what Hunter was asking her to do. "There is no way my brother would let me just waltz in there and –"

"Who do you think hired me?" Hunter cut her off, pressing a small key into her hand. "I'm not sticking around for the joy of it – I've already heard enough about Tommy Quincy and Jude Harrison than I care to. I'm sticking around for the money." He nodded at her closed fist, tight around the key. "Your brother gave me that."

"Darius doesn't want them together?"

Hunter shrugged and straightened, eyes darting around the immediate area as he noticed the skies clearing, smoky clouds disappearing as the sun burnt them away, leaving behind only clear blue skies and answered his business associate; that was all she was to him, even if she wanted more. "Bad for business, I'm assuming. That's all your brother really cares about."

Portia struggled to defend her brother. Her mouth opened and closed many times before she gave up with a sigh, and kept her mouth firmly shut. She knew that Hunter was right.

"Find something." He reminded her, walking away without another look behind him. "And make it good."


	13. You Give Love A Bad Name

**A.N - This story should wrap up next chapter, with a possible epilogue to follow. So, thanks to everyone who's reviewed and stuck with the studpily long wait between updates! Love you all. XD**

**

* * *

**

Thirteen

_Shot through the heart  
__And you're to blame  
__Darling, you give love a bad name  
__-- Bon Jovi_

Sweat soaked, hair messed and eyes drugged with ecstasy, Jude fell into the arms of her equally as exhausted Instant Star boyfriend. The end of the tour was near and after two and a half solid months of living on a tour bus, dashing in and out of venues before collapsing into a dreamless sleep as the bus whisked them to their next destination, Jude and Tommy more than welcomed the break.

"Tired, Jude?" Tommy laughed at his girlfriend's closed eyelids as she lay her head on his shoulder, strumming the guitar in her hands sleepily.

"Little bit," she murmured. "But I'm as ready as ever to play tomorrow."

Performing was fast becoming something akin to a drug; for the both of them.

"I'm sure you are," he placated her, pressing his lips to her forehead and closing his eyes as he tasted the salt of her sweat against his tongue, showing the exertion at which she had been working. "But sleep for now, and when you wake up, there'll be a shop nearby so you can buy your daily dose of sweets."

Jude grinned widely, nodding enthusiastically, and stood up to leave the small communal area of the travelling tour bus. Stretching, her top rode up as her jeans rode down, providing Tommy with a completely unobstructed view to her flat, toned stomach. She turned, letting Tommy see her midriff, complete with inscription in black ink:

**_Property of Vincent Speiderman._**

"Speed!" Tommy bellowed as Jude laughed, winking at him.

The guitarist laughed and ducked out of sight. "Sorry, dude," he called back to the Instant Star. "It was her idea!"

"JUDE!"

Her giggles followed her out of the room, forcing Tommy to smile and shake his head at her adorably juvenile games.

* * *

It was almost a cliché. In order to not be spotted by the already excitable public – just because the Instant Stars were performing _that_ night, and it was their last gig of the tour – both Tommy and Jude donned beanie hats and sunglasses. And, unbelievably, it appeared to be working.

"Do you remember the last time we came out to a shop together, Tommy?" Jude turned her wide eyes on him, watching as his irises darkened.

"Unfortunately." He growled, reaching out to take her hand and clasp it tightly in his own, wanting to forget the time that followed those painful days afterwards.

"Well," she laughed. "I hope you've learnt your lesson."

She pulled back her sleeve, revealing the bracelet that she had refused to remove, briefly, and letting the charms glint underneath the light. That bracelet had received a remarkable amount of press coverage: once people had discovered who it was from, and what it had been a gift for. If anyone saw that bracelet, their cover would be blown.

Taking her wrist in his hand, he kissed her pulse point and pulled her sleeve back over her hand. "Of course." He grinned in response to her statement, revealing a set of perfectly white teeth against the tanned face that was so often curled into a frown.

"So," he spoke quickly, avoiding the silence that was threatening to overcome the couple. "What sweets are you after today?"

"Not sure," Jude replied distractedly, eyes wandering over to the newsstands. "I'm more interested in the magazines, actually."

"Jude," Tommy rolled his eyes exasperatedly at her retreating back. "Come on. You know they're full of rubbish."

But then he saw the headline screaming at him from the paper she'd picked up; the headline that had his heart pounding at its accuracy.

**QUINCY INCARCERATED  
Instant Star has an unforgivable past that no one was aware of.**

Jude didn't look at him, her eyes engrossed with what she was reading, widening as they travelled through the article and more and more details were revealed.

Horrified, Tommy picked up a copy of his own, and read the words with increasing dread.

_Tommy Quincy, 20, known globally as one half of the winners of Instant Star – the other half in fact being Quincy's other half, Jude Harrison – has a criminal record, reports have shown._

_Two years ago, Quincy was involved in a bar fight, the likes of which unrivalled throughout Canada. What's so bad about that, you might say? Well, nothing, unless you count the man who ended up in hospital with a broken jaw and multiple fractured ribs._

_Not enough to convince you that your golden boy is trouble? Well, when the aforementioned anonymous male's girlfriend attempted to prevent the unstoppable and enraged Quincy from attacking, unprovoked, her partner, she too found herself on the receiving end of a blow or two. She was also admitted to hospital with the less-serious case of a head wound, which is rumoured to have been caused by a stumble into a nearby table as a result of Quincy's attack._

_For his actions, Tommy Quincy found himself in jail for two nights, awaiting bail from his next of kin, and a criminal record drawn up._

_Let's hope Jude Harrison gets out of there before anything too bad happens, right?_

A look of terror was etched into Tommy's face as Jude glared at him; tears streaming silently down her angrily blushed cheeks.

"Well?" She demanded, crossing her arms. "Was that article 'a load of rubbish' too?"

The urge to lie and pretend that that had never happened was strong in his chest; to lie and still be able to hold and kiss Jude, rather than admit the truth and have her leave him, was an extremely good compromise, in his opinion.

But they'd promised to sort out the rumours from the facts in the newspaper when they'd started this up again. To lie now and be found out later would break up his relationship even more irreparably.

"No. It's true."

Jude gasped, eyes flaring wide and swimming with tears as her hand cam up to cover her mouth.

"Look, Jude," he began, all too aware of the looks focused on them. "I can explain. That guy, he provoked me. He was hitting on my girlfriend – that was the girl, the paper got it wrong. And, Jude, I was only eighteen!"

"You really sent those people to hospital?"

Controlling his anger had never been his strongest personality trait, and that particular incident had driven him to the edge.

"Yes." The word was strained through gritted teeth.

"And you were arrested?"

"Yes."

Silence. Thick, powerful silence that choked the both of them as each stared at the other; Jude with a mask of mixed emotions and Tommy with a look of fear tearing at his furrowed brow.

"I need to think." Jude finally said, averting her gaze from him. "It's not the end of us – I've been apart from you as much as I can stand. But, it's a lot to take in. I need to go, I need to … think."

Tommy nodded sadly and understandingly as Jude dashed past him and out of the shop. Angrily, he threw the paper back on the pile, staring at the article in disgust. It was only then that he realised who has written the article. The letters were printed in bold black letters, taunting him as he recognised the name they formed.

**Hunter.**


	14. Hate That I Love You

**A.N - This is the end guys. Thanks for sticking with me throughout! And thanks for all the reviews. xD**

**Hope you like.**

* * *

**Fourteen**

_But I hate it  
You know exactly what to do  
So that I can't stay made at you  
Too long, that's wrong  
__-- Rhianna featuring Ne-Yo_

Tommy's anger hadn't subsided any. The concert was due to start in twenty minutes; he hadn't spoken to Jude, only heard her sound check and stood in the dark wings of the stage to be able to see her. He'd do the right thing by her and give her some space. But any more time and he was probably going to go crazy.

Hunter was another matter entirely. He had no way of tracking down the bastard and he was the one who'd caused the trouble. Tommy had no qualms about adding to his police record of assault if it meant teaching Hunter a lesson.

"Tommy?" Jude's voice broke him out of his reverie and he took a hesitant step towards her but said nothing.

"How have you been?" She spoke to the floor, smiling despite herself at seeing him.

"Terrible, you?" His eyes were fixed to her face, hardly daring to believe they were talking again.

"Pretty much the same."

"Look, Jude –"

"Tommy, I –"

Awkwardly, they laughed as they both spoke at the same time, shutting up as soon as they realised the other person was talking.

"You go first," Tommy offered, adopting a nonchalant pose of leaning against the wall.

Jude looked up and smiled at him, walking up to him and pressing her lips softly to his. "I'm sorry." She whispered. "I overreacted and, the truth is, I think I love you." Her cheeks burned a soft pink. "I hate it – it will cause nothing but trouble. From G Major, the tabloids, everything. But, I do."

Tommy smiled, his hands resting on Jude's shoulders, ecstatic that he'd been given another chance with this woman, in spite of everything that had ripped them apart. "You have no idea how happy I am right now, Jude." He smiled at her. "I love you too."

She smiled up at him again, tilting her head to fit with his perfectly as a blinding camera flash went off, tipping Tommy's temper into uncontrollable.

"Aw," Hunter mocked. "How touching. I see my little article didn't break you up, as planned."

Jude froze in Tommy's arms. "Wait a minute," she spoke slowly, as if she was thinking about each individual word as it came to her. "That was you? You wrote it?"

Hunter said nothing, only caught her eyes with his own and nodded, a flicker of a smirk gracing his lips. "What are you going to do about it?"

Pushing Jude gently away from him, Tommy walked up to the man, cocking back his fist so he could show Hunter just what exactly he planned on doing about it. He felt a soft hand encase his clenched fist and glanced behind him to see Jude shaking her head. Reluctantly, Tommy dropped his hand.

"Whipped." Hunter shook his head. "It's pathetic."

He was laughing, eyes shut as he chuckled deeply at Tommy. He didn't see Jude walk up to him and cock back her own fist, eyes opening just in time to be greeted with a punch that sent him to the floor with its force. "That's for the article." She hissed at the man on the floor, ignoring Tommy's appreciative comments and applause. "Now, tell me, why did you write it?"

"Why do you think?" Hunter didn't give up, laughing up at the couple staring down at him. "For the money. It was a good scoop."

Jude's eyes narrowed and raised her hand again, threatening him as the stage crew preparing for their concert all stopped to watch the scene unfolding. "Why," she repeated, "did you write that article?"

Strong arms wrapped around her waist – Tommy, making his presence known – and lips kissed her temple.

Hunter glared at the couple. "Fine, Darius hired me. He wanted to break you two up." He climbed shakily to his feet, hand rising to cover his bruising eye, pushing delicately at the tender skin as he cursed under his breath. "Happy now?"

It was Tommy who answered, his voice cold. "Not exactly."

* * *

Darius was waiting to greet his Instant Stars after their concert, hovering backstage as he heard the rapturous applause the couple received. Instant Star was the best idea he'd ever had. It got G Major publicity, raised money and gave the public someone they wanted to hear.

In fact, he was already planning a second season.

The stage lights came down and the regular lights came on – the show was over. Jude and Tommy emerged, hands entwined and laughing.

"Ah, there you are," Darius announced, clapping and drawing their attention to him. "My Instant Stars. Great show. I sense another tour sometime soon."

"Actually, Darius, we need to talk," Jude said.

"Yeah, we found out you hired Hunter." Tommy interjected. "And, well, we quit."

Darius was fuming with silent anger. His voice, however, was deceptively calm. "What?"

"We quit." Jude repeated. "We're cutting all our G Major ties."

"You can't do that," he objected. "You have a contract."

"It was up for renewal following the completion of our first tour," Jude informed. "And, well, we don't want to be renewed. We're leaving."

Tommy shrugged. "Sorry."

He led Jude away, leaving Darius behind as they walked away from G Major for good. "Jude, that was awesome," he gushed. "First with Hunter, then that. I'm so proud of you."

She was saved the trouble of replying when his lips fell on top of hers, kissing her in a way that told her this was it for them; nothing would come between them again.

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_Three Years Later_

Being out of the public eye for a while often created a demand for your picture. So, when Tommy Quincy was stood at the church altar, waiting for his bride to walk towards him, it didn't surprise him at all that the paparazzi were falling over themselves to offer the scoop of the Harrison-Quincy wedding to their bosses.

But he had no eyes for them. Instead, his attention was fixed on the vision walking down the aisle towards him. Dressed in a swirl of white, Jude looked beautiful. She'd continued her singing career, releasing a second album a year after the end of their tour, courtesy of Quincy Star Records – their record company. Tommy chose to focus on the marketing, producing aspects.

Jude smiled at him, abandoning any thought in his mind that wasn't anything but her.

"I love you," she mouthed at him as the service was ending, shortly before they were announced as man and wife, causing a smile to spread across his face.

"I love you too."

Even as the flashes of paparazzi cameras caught the private moment for the world to see, the couple kissed, focused on nothing but each other.


End file.
